Tips on Writing Fight Scenes

I wrote this post about a year ago as a guest post for a friend. Her life went a bit crazy and it never got posted so, with her permission, I'm posting this here. Enjoy!

Stories are all about conflict. But what happens when the conflict turns into a physical fight during a story? I used to teach martial arts and I’m pretty picky about reading fight scenes. Here are some tips I’ve come up with to help write fight scenes.

1.       Do NOT describe every single movement. Really. Fights happen very fast, but if you take the time to describe everything, it will take forever. Instead, focus on the beginning of the fight, the outcome of the fight, and any important bits, when something changed for the character.

For example, in The Lion King, when Scar confesses to Simba that he killed Mufasa. That’s a crucial part of the fight scene, so include things like that.

2.       Know your setting. Setting plays a huge role in fight scenes. A fight in a classroom with desks is going to be very different than a fight scene in a parking lot. Know your setting. Know what is going to help the fight and what will hinder the fight.

For example, in our martial arts class, we do lots of “no holds barred” sparring. That means that anything goes—there are no rules and there is no official sparring ring. The fighters use the walls all the time to balance off of and to trap their sparring partner.

We changed the rules one day so that anyone who stepped out of the ring lost. That COMPLETELY changed the fighting styles. Kicking and punching became pretty much useless. Instead, it turned into a contest between stances and pushing, with some ground fighting thrown in.

Things also change when weapons are involved. Or on a hill. Or on a roof. Or pretty much any variation in setting, so think about the advantages and disadvantages a setting would have on a character.

3.       Know your character. Know their strengths and weaknesses. For example, I am 5’ 5”, I have short legs and a long torso. Most of the guys I work out with are over 6’, which means I have a definite disadvantage when it comes to traditional sparring. I just don’t have the reach that they do.

I do have an advantage, though, if I can get in close and use elbows and knees. In other words, I can hit them, but they can’t hit me because they have too long of a reach. I also have an advantage in ground fighting because my center of gravity is in my hips (like most girls), which makes me harder throw. I also have some extra weight that helps out there. :)

As with character traits, every fighter will have some strengths and some weaknesses. We as writers just need to figure out what they are and figure out how our characters can use them.

4.       Have fun with it. Really. Some of the most painful fight scenes I’ve read have been overly serious descriptions that made me cringe. A lighter touch is usually better.

An example of this is The Ranger’s Apprentice series by John Flanagan, which are a lot of fun.

Happy writing fighting!